A field experiment was conducted to study response of maize to applied nitrogen during kharif , 2010 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Navile, Shimoga. The response of maize was studied in terms of growth and yield to graded levels of applied nitrogen (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg ha-1) under varying nitrogen fertility levels (very low, low, medium, high and very high). The technique of field experimentation involving creation of wide soil fertility variation in one and the same field was adopted in this study. The results indicated that in low and medium soil fertility strips, grain yield showed an increasing trend up to the maximum level of the N applied (250 kg N ha-1). However, in the high soil fertility strip, we could see a plateau in the response curve beyond 225 kg ha-1 of applied N. The highest nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of 31.91 kg grain produced for every kg of N applied was recorded in the medium fertility strip, with an application of 100 kg ha-1 of nitrogen.